Socialism Only Does One Thing

America has always been a capitalist society. Ask the guy on the street to define capitalism and he’ll probably cough a few times before admitting he can’t. If he does define it, he’ll probably say something about everyone’s freedom to get rich, which isn’t a terrible definition. At its core, capitalism is an economic system that thrives off the average American’s desire for more capital (money). In order for capitalism to benefit the most people, the government must promote free markets and limited regulation. Here’s how it works: If a guy designs a better mousetrap (which no one has ever done, by the way), he should be able to get his product into the marketplace with as little hindrance as possible. His desire for money will help his family by putting food on their table. It will help his community by giving jobs to people who will make, market, and sell his mousetrap. The government benefits as well–the employees who built the mousetrap will pay taxes on their new income, and people who buy the mousetrap will pay sales tax. Everyone wins because some guy wanted to make a better life for himself. Thus, America became the richest nation that ever existed.

Liberals in America today want to tear down capitalism. They are infuriated that some people have done really well in the capitalist system while others have not succeeded. But that’s the harsh reality of capitalism: It’s not designed to ensure that everybody gets rich. It simply provides the opportunity for anybody to get rich. But liberals are not really concerned with opportunities. (They say they are, but they’re not.) What they strive for are equal outcomes. They talk about the rich paying their “fair share.” “Fair” to a liberal is whatever they say it is. Even though the rich in this country pay for an overwhelming majority of the roads, schools, policeman, etc. through the graduated income tax, liberals believe the rich still aren’t contributing enough to the welfare of society. Why? Because after they pay the highest levels of income tax, they still have a lot of money. Again, the outcome is what concerns the liberal, not the opportunity.

But here is something they fail to realize (or maybe they do realize): Socialism–the system they seem so fond of–only brings people down. It cannot lift people up. Socialism is the redistribution of wealth through high taxation and the expansion of governmental regulation. Therefore, socialism takes away that guy’s zeal to make the mousetrap. He knows that the more money he makes, the vastly higher taxes he’ll pay. Why make more money if the government will just take more of it? He knows that it’s better to stay in his current economic status rather than get involved in the beaurocratic web that will smother his business. He will be joined by millions of others whose upward mobility was stifled by socialism’s ideals. Granted, there will be fewer greedy millionaires, but there will also be a smaller middle class, fewer products in the marketplace, and more governmental intrusion into the lives of all Americans.

Socialism cannot lift up anyone–it can only keep everyone the same. And that is the real goal of liberalism. It’s not about diversity. It’s not about equality. Liberalism’s goal is sameness. And sameness will ruin America.